Henry stanton



A UNITED sTATEsPATENT OFFICE;-

HENRY STANTON, OF' WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

LIGHTER ron vEssELs.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 5,234, dated August 14, 1847. j

lighters used for passing and lighting other boats or vessels over barsor shallows, which is applicable to life-boats, and that the fol lowing is a full, clear, and exact description of the principle or character which dist1n guishes them from all other things before known and of the manner of making, constructing, and using the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,

making part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a plan of the lighter; Fig. 2,

, .y a longitudinal elevation, and Fig. 3, a separate view of one of the safety spars attached to a board.

The same letters indicate like parts in all the figures.

The nature of my invention consists in i constructing the sides of the boat straight from bow to stern for the purpose of giving the required strength, when this is co-mbined with projectionsl on each side toward the bow and stern for the purpose of making recesses at eachsideto receive air tight bags called safety spars, made of india rubber cloth or* other appropriate substance, the bags being -protected from the injurious v j effects of snags, ioating wood, &c., by these projections. And also in making the boat with beams passing entirely through the boat and projecting sufliciently beyond each side to receive and guard the safety spars which are attached to them, so that the whole strain in lighting or lioating a steam boat or other vessel shall be mainly borne gy these beams instead of the body of the oat.

In the accompanying drawings (a, a, a) represent the timbers or knees forming the frame of the boat, lapping onto each other in the middle of the boat and extending vup the sides to the top to give the required strength-to these are properly secured 'the sides (Z2, 5,) that are made of two truss frames that extend from end to end in straight lines. The bow (c) and Vstern (d) are made at right angles to the sides and with facility. The bottom of the boat is latwith middle and side keelsons (a, a', c)

and onto these are tted cross timbers (c) STANTON, of

f that extend ldown to the bottom, so ,that the bottom planks are secured to the under face e l of the keelsons and cross timbers (0). The knees (c) are then laid onto the cross timbers (c) lapped over each other and secured by bolts that pass through the knees, the keelsons, and the floor timbers by which great strength is given to the narrow partl of the boat which has to sustain the principal part of the strain. two projections (e, e) which should gradually swell out from the bow and stern, and extend to the required distanceso as toform recesses along the sides ofthe boat from the bottom to above the water line, to receive the air vessels or safety spars (f, f),

On each side there are These projections are formed out-sideof the i truss frames or sides (b b), by extending the bottom timbers entirely across. The safety spars are properly secured to beams the boat for the purpose o-f giving therequiredvstrength to sustaink the weight when a vessel is to be lighted over a bar or when used for any other purpose, the force of buoyancy being sustained by these beams as they restl on the safety spars, additional strength being given to the beams (g) by braces or knees placed under them and attached to the sides of the boat and to the timbers or inside knees (a) by bolts passing through the whole. The safety spars are also protected from above by beams and sheathing (z', z',) that extend fromthe bow to the stern projections (c, c) on each sidje. The safety spars are secured to the beams vby, means of a board (Ze) one for each spar.

Three straps (Z, Z, Z)A one at each vend and one in the middle are secured to the upper surface of the board and the two ends pass :through mortises (m, m) thence around the safety spar and buckled over the board, which is provided with cleats that pass on each side of the beams (g) and secured there by means of a bolt (a). The boards can in this way be attached to two, three, or more of the beams, and can be att-ached or detached with facility. To facilitate puttingf on andremoving the safety spars a strap (or straps) e (o) is attached to the guard and passes around the spar so that when the board is disconnected by pulling thisestrap the spar will be rolled out of its place onto y or under the guard. When the boat is floating in water of suliicient depth they safety spars may be removed, and can be readily attached again when desired, as described above.

As the projections or guards (e, e) extend from the bottom of the boat to'some distance above the water line and project fromu they sides of the boat as far or farther than the diameter of the safety spars, these (the j When boats of this kind are to be used forl the purpose of lighting a steam boat or other vessels over bars, one (or more) of them is placed in each side of theboat,.and

under the guards therof as represented'in Fig. 4 which is a cross vertical `section taken through the steam boat and two lighters, one on each side, and then screws (1^, r)

' that pass through nuts in the beams (s, s)

of the lighters are forced up against. the underside of the guards of the steam boat and in that way it is raised. Or, when used for lighting other vessel beams maybe attached to the vessel and extendingover the lighters in the same manner as the guards of t-he steam boat. Any of the mechanical powers may be substituted for the screws. It will be obvious that the bow and stern canbe made in any other form, if desired, the one described and represented being deemed by me the best adapted to'the purposes contemplated. The sides -of the boat can be truss framed in any mannerbest adapted to give the requisite strength and stiffness. The safety spars are long cylindrical bags of india rubber made perfectly air tight `and provided with a screw valve` (m) at one or both ends through which they can be inflated by a pump, bellows, or any other known means. And4 they are also` made with straps (m) bymeans ofwhich they are lashed to the beams of the boat.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is- Y 1. Constructing the boat with the sides of straight truss frames connected with the lbottom by means of the knee timbers that lap onto each other in the middle of the l'boat and secured `to the keelsons and bottom by the interposition of cross timbers, substantially as herein described (whereby great strength and stiffness is given to that part of the boat which has t-o sustain the strain, as described), when this is combined Y with the safety spars or floats for giving additional buoyancy, as described.

2. I claim constructing the boatso as to be more buoyant toward the bow and stern than along the middle sections by carrying out the sides, toward the bow and sides, beyond the truss frames that constitute the sides of the narrow part, in combination with the above described mode of constructing the frame of the boat and with the auX- iliary floats or safety spars which give the required buoyancy to the narrow part, substantially as described, the projections toward the bow and stern. answering the double purpose of giving ther'equired buoyancy at the ends and protecting the auxiliary floats or safety spars, as described.

And finally, I claim in combination with the safety spars making the guards to which p the safety spars are to be secured by passing the beams through the side frames and below their upper edgein combination with the mode of giving the required strength to the connection of these with the boat by t bolting the beams to the top of the outside knees and to the sides of theinsidefkn'ees, the inside and outside knees being connected together, substantially as described, whereby the required strength is given to the guards to resist the upward force of the safety spars. l

HENRY STANTON. Witnesses:

R. F. Sornu, Y A. P. BRowNn.l v 

